Experience history at Port Oneida Fair

From staff reports

History comes alive at six historic sites during the annual Port Oneida Fair at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The Port Oneida Fair will be held Aug. 9 and 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to the many popular demonstrations, animals and exhibits, the fair will be a zero-waste event, will feature a chicken dinner on Friday, and will end with an astronomy party on Saturday night.

Each August, amid the pastoral setting of meadows, maples, barns, farmhouses and corncribs, the Port Oneida Rural Historic District awakens from its peaceful slumber and comes alive with activity true to the period when it was a community of robust farms. Once again, visitors are invited to step back in time at the two-day Port Oneida Fair on Friday and Saturday to experience life as it was in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Visitors can take the shuttle, drive, hike or bike to the six unique historic sites where a variety of activities take place. Over 80 demonstrators will be at the fair. Timber framers, quilters and basket weavers will demonstrate their crafts. Potters and blacksmiths will be hard at work. Oxen will cut hay in the fields. Interpreting the history of the Port Oneida community and its settlers will also be an important aspect of the fair. Park rangers, volunteers and families of Port Oneida residents will share stories at various farm sites. Food will be available for purchase or you may pack a picnic lunch to eat on the trail or in a farm meadow.

By partnering with Bay Area Recycling for Charities, the National Lakeshore will be going “green” and composting or recycling all materials possible throughout the fair. Special bins will be placed at each site. In order to reduce what is being put into a landfill, compostable service ware will be used. These items (cups, plates and utensils) are made from plant-based materials and will break down in a compost pile within weeks, as opposed to plastics and paper material that would take generations to decompose in a landfill.

You can spend a day at the Port Oneida Fair and then sit down for the third annual old-fashioned chicken dinner at the Olsen Farm. On Friday, Aug. 9, starting at 4:30 p.m., Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear will present the Port Oneida Picnic for only $15. Tickets need to be purchased in advance. Proceeds benefit the Port Oneida Fair. Please contact Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear for ticket information at Phsb.org.

The Port Oneida Fair celebration continues into the night with a Star Party on Saturday, Aug. 10, from 9-11 p.m. at the Thoreson Farm. Join Park Rangers and the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society (GTAS) to experience a form of recreation that has been enjoyed by many generations and continues today. GTAS members share their telescopes and knowledge while viewing Mars, Saturn and the Perseid meteor shower. Learn about astronomy as it was in the 1900s. Remember to bring a flashlight for the walk back to your car.

The Port Oneida Rural Arts and Culture Fair promotes the preservation of rural traditional skills, crafts, landscapes and communities of the Upper Great Lakes Region through education, artistic expression and the development of a coalition of community organizations. Port Oneida is the largest intact historic agricultural district in the United States. It is fully protected within the National Lakeshore. The Port Oneida Rural Historic District contains 19 historic farms (four privately owned), more than 300 buildings and over 3,000 acres of land. In addition to the farmhouses, barns, and wonderful variety of specialized outbuildings, the historic district contains the fields, orchards, fence rows, roads, cemetery, forest and other elements that make up the historic landscape.

The Port Oneida Fair is hosted by the National Lakeshore and co-sponsored by Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear and the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes.

The Port Oneida Fair is a free event, but you must purchase a Park Entrance Pass and display it in your vehicle. Please call (231) 326-5135, ext. 328, to make reservations (if you plan on bringing a group), or ask questions, or visit their website at Nps.gov/slbe.